Gene probably has the worst release and fish handling procedures of any guide in the business.
Mille Lacs is one of the toughest lakes to catch a fish but has the biggest fish in the state. Welcome to the addiction.
Thanks Feathers.
The best thing you can do is keep a fishing journal. Record everything from weather, moon phase, wind direction, time…. This way you can look back at your journal and find similar situations where you have marked fish in the past so you know where to try again later. It all takes time and the fish keep moving with their food preference.
I had contemplated a journal. More for measurements and weights but I could make it a whole spreadsheet sort of thing.
Thanks Rodwork
I had contemplated a journal. More for measurements and weights but I could make it a whole spreadsheet sort of thing.
If you are only keeping a journal for measurements of the fish you catch, news for you, just starting out, that is going to be 1 page and it will take you years to fill it.
Find yourself some apps that you can identify moorise, moonset, phase of moon, moon overhead, moon underfoot, temp, wind direction, water temp, clarity of water, depth, air temp, other weather-related factors, cloud cover, precip, etc.
Over time those things will really mean more and you will learn more than the measurements of 2 41 inch muskies.
If you have a limited time to fish, focus on the peak times which would be moon rise/set, sun rise/set, moon over/under. You might have more immediate success fishing a lake that has a higher density of fish to know if you are doing anything correctly. Mille Lacs can be tough.
The tough thing about focusing just on trolling you really don’t see any interactions from fish vs casting where they follow.
I’ve been trolling for skis on mille for 5 years prob only 10 days a year. No ski for me, caught a handful of pike just over 40 but no ski. It’s usually a pontoon full, big boards out dragging 4 lines from barnacles to hunters for lunch and back. Did some out on the flats last year with no luck. We dragged about every thing you can think of. headlock had hopes last year man those things got action! My time will come I’m just usually the captain of the afternoon booze cruise
On a side note gene hung it up last year and let his first mate take it over. Nice guy when I talk to him at the lq store. Never got a chance to go out with him
Thanks Smackem… It’s good to hear that I should not expect to catch much of anything when I’m out. I am not bashful if a Pike should decide to bite. I’ll take whatever I can get. My expectations had been catching one or two every time I went out. After seeing yours and a few others posts I’m coming to the conclusion its not as easy as dragging a big lure behind the boat all day in weeds.
Thanks Smackem… It’s good to hear that I should not expect to catch much of anything when I’m out. I am not bashful if a <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Pike should decide to bite. I’ll take whatever I can get. My expectations had been catching one or two every time I went out. After seeing yours and a few others posts I’m coming to the conclusion its not as easy as dragging a big lure behind the boat all day in weeds.
A boat full of people certainly increases your odds, but when a fish strikes it can be utter chaos so learning how to set lines, use planer boards, different distances behind the boat, etc will be imperative.
A boat full of people certainly increases your odds, but when a fish strikes it can be utter chaos so learning how to set lines, use planer boards, different distances behind the boat, etc will be imperative.
At best I’ll be able to fit three in my boat… So learning everything you’ve listed only comes with time on the water doesn’t it? Can’t read about it here. Right Captain? I was afraid of that. 
I do however have 2 different 10 day trips up there that fall on a full moon. I haven’t read up on everything lunar but I gather that’s a good thing.
At best I’ll be able to fit three in my boat… So learning everything you’ve listed only comes with time on the water doesn’t it? Can’t read about it here. Right Captain? I was afraid of that.
I do however have 2 different 10 day trips up there that fall on a full moon. I haven’t read up on everything lunar but I gather that’s a good thing.
You could get ideas from others, but really its going to depend on how your boat is setup, etc. What works for one person will not work for another. I have seen guys who have a tripod installed in the back seat post which can effectively position some rods, but for you just getting going. Get some good rod holders (you will not want to hold a rod all day or for any length of time), make sure when you put the rod in the holder you have it clamped so the rod is slightly pointing toward the back of the boat and loosen the drag a big. If you have the rod holder pointing perpendicular to the side of the boat and a musky strikes if it doesn’t destroy your rod, the rod holder or both you are lucky. Get planer boards to get lines away from the side of the boat.
If you took a guide trip from Gene he certainly should have been utilizing the things I mentioned so if you paid any attention hopefully you picked up some things.
I did pay attention Captain Musky… Close attention… I have found some DIY planer board plans online and once it warms up. If it ever warms up I plan to build them. I’m going to have to make a mast for my boat to get the Planer Board Line up out of the water but I think I have that figured out. Did not know to angle the rods toward the back of the boat though. So that’s good to know… would hate to learn the hard way. What I didn’t catch was where in relation to the weeds he was positioning himself. Guess I’ll have to figure that out by trial and error..
What I didn’t catch was where in relation to the weeds he was positioning himself. Guess I’ll have to figure that out by trial and error..
Honestly, this is going to be trial and error. Read your graph and if the weeds top out a few feet below the surface, you could certainly troll over the top of them with a shallow bait, but in most cases, unless it was early in the year before the weeds reached their peak he was probably either on the inside or outside weed edge.
Once the weeds get within 4 feet or so of the surface its tough to troll over them with anything other than topwater and not get fouled up all the time.
An interesting theory an old guide on Leech used to do was to approach a weed bed he wanted to fish and then motor his boat around it a few minutes stirring the heck out of everything, then come back and cast it. He claimed it disoriented the muskies. Not sure if it was successful, but I don’t think this would be a real popular maneuver in today’s world when there are more musky fisherman fishing the same piece of structure.
This “Kevin Collins” guy is a real [fill-in-the-blank]
This “Kevin Collins” guy is a real [fill-in-the-blank]
great guy?
handsome guy?
fun guy?
smart guy?
smart ass?
comedian?
angler?
Am I close B-man?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Kevin Collins wrote:</div>
He has taken on a partner and is soaking you for $400 bucks for 6 hours of service.That’s figures out to $66.66 per hour, for just the time he spends on the water with you.
Lets hope when you go out with your boat you don’t at some time need the services of a boat mechanic shop. They will “soak” you (your term) as follows;
In 2005 the national average for shop labor according to Boating Industry Magazine was $75 per hour.
I don’t know what that computes to in todays dollars.
Huntindave my sincere apologies if my term “Soak” offends you. That was not my intention at all.. Hey I’m the new guy on the pond and the last thing I want to do here is create enemies. Perhaps I have a little butt hurt at Gene’s price hikes but that does not take away from how great a guy he is. He is a true character and we loved his stories and getting “Thunder Struck” and the whole package. He just priced us out of his services… We would go again if we could afford it. That’s all…
Again I’m sorry I offended you… I hope you can forgive me and we can be forum friends at some point.
Kevin
As I already replied in your other thread, no worries.
Another question.. For trolling muskies what pound test should i use. I plan to tie my own leaders out of 100 pound floro and I had read braided was the only way to go for line. Should I go 100 pound braided? or bigger? Any brand better than others? Also who uses the electrician tape as their backing? Good bad? What say you???
For Musky Fishing i like to use 40lb – 60lb Trilene Big Game monofilament. When muskie trolling at higher rates of speeds i like the stretch and shock absorbing properties of a monofilament compared to a Braid. For backing i just use some cheap line i picked up at a garage sale or a bulk spool closeout bin. I would not want the residue that electrical tape can leave on my fishing reels. Leaders: 100lbs is a minimum, i usually shoot for 150lb+ for trolling leaders. I like trolling leaders 3-6 feet long. Muskies have been known to miss the bait and a longer leader could prevent this type of bite off.
Like anything related to musky fishing, everyone has their own way of doing things. Is my way correct… probably not, but it works for me. reiterating what a lot have said on this topic already. Much of musky fishing is trial and error.
Remember this, trolling for musky, when your lure hits the end of the structure or weed bed, go left or right sharply, make your lure change direction, sometimes they will follow a good long distance before striking. DK.
Kong… I was unaware you needed backing for mono? Is that correct? I’ll consider increasing my weight on floro to 150 pounds and I had planned to tie 60″ leaders.
You do not need backing for mono like braid. However, it can saves you a bit of time and money when re-spooling any reel.
Gotcha
The story goes, Muskies are a fish of 10,000 casts. if that’s true then i’m due to catch about 15 fish this summer. Gosh I hope this is true…. 
The story goes, <em class=”ido-tag-em”>Muskies are a fish of 10,000 casts. if that’s true then i’m due to catch about 15 fish this summer. Gosh I hope this is true….
I went 16.5 seasons without one from 2000 – 2017. Then in the second half of 2017, I caught 8. Last year in 2018 I caught 5 more. That drought for 16.5 years was rough. I questioned many times whether I should continue to try. I stopped keeping track at over 500 hours. The flood gates opened in the August 2017 though.
That’s encouraging Gimruis!!!!
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